Lift for giving access to the water in a swimming bath or a re-education pool

ABSTRACT

A lift for putting a handicapped person into the water of a swimming bath or pool comprises a top plate, a bottom plate, a base plate secured to the ground, a fixed support post mounted on the base plate and comprising a steel tube welded to the top plate and a stainless steel tubular shaft centered in the steel tube, a rotation block rotatably mounted on the tubular shaft, and a guide column or plate. The rotation block comprises a frame provided at the rear with concentric bearings pivoting around the tubular shaft, a bearing plate positioned inside the frame, a rod mounted on and secured to the tubular shaft, and a horizontal jack mounted at its rear end to the bearing plate. The nose of the jack is connected to the rod for pivotally mounting the rotation block on the tubular shaft. The guide plate comprises a fixed upright secured to the front surface of the rotation block, a moving upright slidably mounted to the fixed upright, and a vertical jack secured inside the fixed upright for moving the moving upright with respect to the fixed upright. A seat is secured to the moving upright. A rotation wheel is secured to the rear surface of the fixed upright at the bottom. The rotation wheel includes wheels resting on the base plate for completely stabilizing the device and for distributing any loads and forces exerted on the guide plate and the tubular shaft.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to means and equipment for giving access to waterto handicapped people with reduced mobility, so that they canindependently and effortlessly enter and leave the water of aswimming-bath or re-education pool without having to use an access slopeor ladder or steps.

Existing equipment nearly always requires at least one operator orassistance in entering and leaving the water.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the device according to the invention is:

(a) to enable handicapped persons, persons with reduced mobility, orelderly or pregnant women to enter and leave the water by use of theirown powers, without effort and without help from anyone else;

(b) to be simple and extremely reliable;

(c) to be completely automatic without requiring electricity orcompressed air;

(d) to operate on tap water;

(e) not to require any maintenance, and

(f) in conjuction with a suitable litter, to give access to the waterwhen lying down.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved through theprovision of a device comprising a top plate, a bottom plate, a baseplate secured to the ground, a fixed support post mounted on the baseplate and comprising a steel tube welded to the top plate and astainless steel tubular shaft centered in the steel tube, a rotationblock rotatably mounted on the tubular shaft, and a guide column orplate. The rotation block comprises a frame provided at the rear withconcentric bearings pivoting around the tubular shaft, a bearing platepositioned inside the frame, a rod mounted on and secured to the tubularshaft, and a horizontal jack mounted at its rear end to the bearingplate. The nose of the jack is connected to the rod for pivotallymounting the rotation block on the tubular shaft. The guide platecomprises a fixed upright secured to the front surface of the rotationblock, a moving upright slidably mounted to the fixed upright, and avertical jack secured inside the fixed upright for moving the movingupright with respect to the fixed upright. A seat is secured to themoving upright.

In one aspect of the invention, the fixed upright is provided withflanges extending from its side and roller trains secured to theflanges, and the moving upright is provided with rails secured to itssides, the roller trains of the fixed upright rolling inside the railsof the moving upright.

In another aspect of the invention, a rotation wheel is secured to therear surface of the fixed upright at the bottom. The rotation wheelincludes wheels resting on the base plate for completely stabilizing thedevice and for distributing any loads and forces exerted on the guideplate and the tubular shaft.

In yet another aspect of the invention, tap water is supplied to thevertical and horizontal jacks by first and second three-positiondistributors, respectively.

A better understanding of the disclosed embodiments of the inventionwill be achieved when the accompanying detailed description isconsidered in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which likereference numerals are used for the same parts as illustrated in thedifferent figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the device for putting ahandicapped person into the water according to the invention, with partsbroken away, the lower position of the seat and moving upright beingshown and dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the horizontal jack of the device of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the mountingmechanism for the moving upright of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a mountingmechanism for the moving upright of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a third embodiment of a mounting mechanism for the movingupright of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a fourth alternative of a mounting mechanism for the movingupright of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a fifth embodiment of the mounting mechanism for the movingupright of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the device shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram of the control mechanism for the device of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The device according to the invention is made up of simple dismountablecomponents, as shown in the accompanying drawings.

It comprises a fixed support post (1), a rotation block (6), a guidecolumn or plate (30), and a rotation foot (25):

The fixed support post (1) comprises a square or round approximately100-mm tube (2) about 1100 mm high, inside which an approximately 45-mmtubular shaft (3) is centered and welded at one end to a base (4) and atthe other end to a top plate (5) which in turn is welded to the tube(2). The welded assembly is secured to a baseplate (29) secured to theedge of the bath, as shown as, FIG. 1.

The rotation block (6) is an assembly comprising a frame (8) of bentsheet metal, a parallelepipedal mechanically welded or reinforcedplastics assembly having a sloping front surface equipped at the rear ofthe upper and lower surfaces with two concentric guide rings or bearings(9) for rotation, so as to be mounted on the tubular shaft (3). Ahorizontal jack (10) about 63 mm in diameter and having a stroke of e.g.200 mm is secured on a bearing plate (12) inside the rotation block (6),on the one hand via a rear joint (11) and on the other hand via a strap(13) secured to the nose of the jack connected to a rod (14) mounted onand secured to the tubular shaft (3) by a pin system (27) and a clampingsystem (28). The rotation block can thus pivot through e.g. 90 degrees,as shown in FIG. 2.

The guide column (30) comprises a fixed upright (15) having a "U" or "C"section and secured to the front surface of the rotation block (6), avertical jack (16) 80 mm in diameter and having a stroke of e.g. 1200 mmbeing mounted inside the guide column and having its nose downwards andequipped with securing brackets (17). Two trains of rollers (18) aresecured to the two flanges of the upright and slide inside "U" shapedrails (20) secured to a moving upright (19) which has a "U" or "C"section and at the lower part of which a gusset (21) is mounted forsecuring the nose of the jack (16). When thus assembled, the twouprights move one another through a length corresponding to the strokeof the jack. The two uprights may alternatively be guided by ballslideways (39) or e.g. a cylindrical or other shaft (31) sliding in aring (32) which can be a ball race or the guide means cna be a "T"section member (33) on which rollers (34) move on each surface of the"flats", the edges of which rub against a wear plate (35) or a "U" (36)whose two flanges serve as a running surface for the rollers (37) and awear plate (38) which is in contact with the front surface for guide orother purposes, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Sleeves are secured to the lower part of the flanges of the upright (19)and serve as a recess for the connecting bars (22) to which a seat (24)equipped with two controls (7) is secured.

The guide column (30) is secured to the end of the rotation block (6),either vertically or inclined at e.g. 15 or 20 degrees.

The rotation foot (25) is secured to the bottom part of the fixedupright (15) and is equipped with wheels (26) which rest on thebaseplate (29) so that the assembly is perfectly stable with gooddistribution of loads and any forces exerted on the guide column (30) orthe tubular shaft (3).

The device operates completely automatically and uses tap water. Thevarious movements are controlled at four points. The seat is equippedwith a right-hand control (27a) and a left-hand control (27b) in orderto facilitate manipulation depending on the bather's handicap.

A control (27c) on the rotation block enables the bather to raise thedevice when in the water, and another control (27d) disposed on the edgeof the support plate (29) enables the bather when in the water to lowerthe device, which is in the "inoperative" position on the support plate(29), as shown in, FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 shows the complete operation of the device.

The device can be supplied with water at the bottom at A or at the topat A1, via the 3-position distributor B which supplies the vertical jackD and towards the 3-position distributor G which supplies the horizontaljack C. E and F are distributors comprising rollers and automaticcontrol of end of travel and used for actuating the distributors B and Gto move as required. The end of travel of distributors E and F enablethe four controls (7) to operate in a continuous cycle, marked H, J, K,L in FIG. 10.

What is claimed:
 1. A device for giving access to water to persons withreduced mobility, comprising:a top plate; a bottom plate; a baseplatesecured to the ground; a fixed support post mounted on said baseplateand comprising a steel tube welded to said top plate and a stainlesssteel tubular shaft centered in said steel tube, said tubular shafthaving a bottom end welded to said bottom plate and a top end welded tosaid top plate; a rotation block rotatably mounted on said tubularshaft, said rotation block comprising a parallelepipedal frame havingfront, upper, and lower surfaces, said front surface being sloping andsaid upper and lower surfaces having a rear and being provided at saidrear with completely concentric bearings, said bearings pivoting exactlyaround said tubular shaft, a bearing plate positioned inside said frame,a rod mounted on and secured to said tubular shaft, pin means andclamping means for securing said rod to said tubular shaft, a horizontaljack having a rear end and a nose, said rear end of said horizontal jackbeing secured inside said frame on said bearing plate, rear joint meansfor securing said rear end of said horizontal jack to said bearingplate, and strap means screwed to said nose of said jack and connectedto said rod for pivotally mounting said rotation block on said tubularshaft; a guide plate comprising a fixed upright secured to said frontsurface of said rotation block, said fixed upright having a top, abottom, first and second sides, a rear surface, and upper and lowerbrackets mounted to said top and bottom, respectively; a moving uprighthaving a top, a bottom, first and second sides, and a gusset mounted atsaid bottom, said moving upright sliding in said fixed upright; slidemeans for mounting said moving upright to said fixed upright forup-and-down sliding motion; a vertical jack secured inside said fixedupright by said upper and lower brackets, said vertical jack having anose and an upper end, said nose being secured to said bottom of saidmoving upright by said gusset, said vertical jack moving said movingupright with respect to said fixed upright over a distance correspondingto the length of the stroke of said vertical jack; and a seat secured tosaid moving upright.
 2. The device of claim 1, said base plate beingmade of stainless steel.
 3. The device of claim 1, said frame and saidguide plate being made of reinforced plastics.
 4. The device of claim 1,said fixed upright having first and second flanges extending from saidfirst and second sides thereof and first and second trains of rollerssecured to said first and second flanges, respectively, and said movingupright having first and second rails secured to said first and secondsides thereof, said first and second trains of rollers rolling insidesaid first and second rails, respectively, said first and secondflanges, said first and second trains of rollers, and said first andsecond rails comprising said sliding means.
 5. The device of claim 1,further comprising a rotation wheel secured to said rear surface of saidfixed upright at said bottom, said rotation wheel including wheel meansresting on said baseplate for completely stabilizing said device and fordistributing any loads and forces exerted on said guide plate and saidtubular shaft.
 6. The device of claim 1, said seat having a lower part,a left side, a right side, left-hand and right-hand control meanssecured to said lower part for controlling said horizontal and verticaljacks, and left and right movable arm rests secured to said lower part,said seat having an ergonomic shape and being made of polyester.
 7. Thedevice of claim 1, said device being completely automatic and powered bywater from a tap and having first, second, third, and fourth controlmeans for controlling the motion of said device, said first and secondcontrol means comprisng left-hand and right-hand control means providedon said seat for facilitating manipulation depending on the bather'shandicap, said third control means comprising raising means provided onsaid rotation block for enabling the bather to raise said seat when inthe water; and said fourth control means comprising lowering meansprovided on the edge of said base plate for enabling the bather when inthe water to lower said seat into the pool.
 8. The device of claim 1,further comprising first three-position distributor means for supplyingtap water to said vertical jack and second three-position distributormeans for supplying tap water to said horizontal jack.